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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

Yesterday, NASA invited the media to tour the Kennedy Space Center's space shuttle facilities that are now or will be converted for use by the Constellation program in support of launching the next generation crew launch vehicle. The first development test flight of Ares I, known as Ares I-X, is planned for 2009.

Joining the tour were several Constellation managers to explain what was planned and what work was already underway. Among them was Scott Thurston, Crew Exploration Vehicle manager in the Shuttle Processing Directorate at Kennedy Space Center. Thurston wore a shirt bearing the logo for the Ares I-X, which he confirmed was the new emblem for the test flight:

The emblem borrows design elements from the Ares Project logo, revealed by NASA in 2006.

Ares I-X, formerly known as Ares I-1, will fly a four-segment solid rocket booster (like those used to launch the space shuttle) with an upper stage mass simulator and an unmanned, boilerplate Orion spacecraft. The test flight objectives are focused on first stage flight dynamics, controllability, and separation of the first and upper stages.